


Five Too Many

by gloriousrumpoflife



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, F/M, OC babies - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-03-23 01:33:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3749986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloriousrumpoflife/pseuds/gloriousrumpoflife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of oneshots about Hak and Yona's children, featuring possessive dragon warriors + genius pretty boy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First of Many

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for if you're emetophobic. Also, this chapter might not be very good, since it was written purely in spurts of motivation. We'll see.

There was a number of amazing things Hak had seen in his life.  If he had to list them, everything at the top would involve Yona.  He had watched her grow from a traumatized, spoiled princess to a warrior for her people.  He had seen sides of her no one else would ever see (her shy glances as his fingers traced her body; how she stubbornly held onto him when the morning came, but she did not want to leave; her most indescribable of smiles, especially those she bore on their wedding day).  He had observed all five tribe generals bow to her as their Queen, without question, in spite of her husband being a formal general.  He had been granted the most wonderful of sights when the nursemaids had told him she was out of labor, and he had rushed into her room, and there she had been, cradling their newborn daughter, drenched in sweat and crying and smiling while the baby stared at her.

Perhaps most amazing of all spectacles, however, was the day he walked into the throne room, intent on flirting with his wife for a bit, and instead saw four dragon warriors and a genius pretty boy arguing over Haeun, his four month old daughter.

“She can’t even crawl yet!  Stop trying to make her walk!” Yun shouted, throwing a baby rattle at Zeno.

“It’s fine, lad!” Zeno replied, taking the rattle to the face with the smile of a champion.  He held up Haeun by the chest, her nubby toes barely touching the silk rug beneath her.  “Zeno’s raised babies before!”

Haeun swung her chubby arms for the rattle that had fallen beside her.  Jae-ha, lying on his stomach in front of her and beside the sitting Yun, picked up the toy, shaking it teasingly.  “Did you lose count of how many babies you raised, as well?”

Zeno pouted while Yun rolled his eyes.  “What did I say about mentioning my age?” Zeno admonished as he picked up Haeun and hit Jae-ha lightly with her.  Ah, yes.  Good idea.  Teach her how to beat him up at an early age.

“It’s a question worth asking,” Jae-ha teased. He continued shaking the toy at Haeun, who reached for it with absolute joy in her laughter.

“It certainly isn’t,” Kija responded, crouching down and poking Haeun’s cheek.  Too enraptured with the rattle, she barely noticed the touch, much to Kija’s blatant displeasure (he puffed out his cheeks whenever he was bothered, and his cheeks were so puffed they were turning red with the strain).  Hak smirked.  He was glad to see she was already learning the fine art of annoying the White Snake.

“Oh, come on, now, Kija-kun.  You must be curious, as well,” Jae-ha said.

“It’s a stupid question!” Yun barked.

Zeno chuckled.  “Lad, there’s no need to be so protective.”

While Yun launched into an embarrassed, lost-in-denial spiel about how he  _wasn’t_ protective,  _shut up_   _Zeno_ , Hak closed the ornate door leading to the throne room and approached the group.  Haeun noticed him near immediately, her large, purple eyes practically sparkling as she flapped her little arms at him.  “Da!” she yelled, her legs kicking in excitement.  He couldn’t help the smile that infected his lips.  Even if everything she could say came in garbled syllables, every time Haeun called out to him, inexplicable joy burst within him. He loved her so dearly, more completely than anyone ever could, so long as they weren’t Yona, who could probably rival him on the subject of loving their daughter.  He waved to her and she became all the more excited.

The other men finally took notice of Hak. Yun derailed his shouting, but he threw a glare that promised he wasn’t finished, and greeted Hak with a nod.

“Has his Majesty come to play?” Jae-ha asked. He threw the rattle into the air again and again, distracting Haeun with how he spun it every time he tossed it.

“Something like that,” Hak answered.  It wasn’t a lie.  If flirting with his wife, and maybe stealing a few kisses, maybe getting something  _more_ than a few kisses could be counted as playing, then it wasn’t a lie.  He crouched down, regal robes pooling on the floor, and held out his arms. “Can I have her?”  Something he had learned from years of traveling with the dragon dorks—and of receiving unrelenting glares from Yona whenever he didn’t play nice—was that if he wanted something from them, he had to ask politely.

However, that tactic didn’t always work.  This had become especially true ever since Haeun’s birth.  Jae-ha, still tossing the rattle, Kija, and Zeno stared at him blankly for a moment, then looked down at the mesmerized Haeun, then glanced back at him as if he had just asked them to grow moss on their faces.  He sighed, all those years of built-up aggravation with his friends suddenly prickling his shoulders.

“Let me hold my daughter, idiots,” Hak grumbled.

There was a hand on his arm.  He looked over at the person touching him and saw Yun giving him a dumbfounded expression.  “Hak,” he began, squeezing his arm reassuringly, “you should know that’s impossible.”

Apparently, even Yun was under Haeun’s spell.  Hak really should have known.  She was Yona’s daughter, after all.  If there was one thing Yona was particularly good at, it was charming others.

What a bunch of idiots, Hak thought, though he knew full well that he was no better.  When Haeun was old enough to speak, he was pretty sure she could ask him to wear make-up and flirt with a boy she liked, and he would do it.  Being a father was a pretty sad fate.

He could be bothered with that another time, however.  Haeun was too young for such ridiculous demands.  And asking to take her from a bunch of dragons was a matter completely different from crossdressing.

“Shinah, help me out,” Hak declared.  Shinah was sitting quite a distance away from the group, playing with one of Ao’s many babies.  He had stopped wearing his mask several years ago (and instead kept it tied around his neck), so Hak could very easily see the fear that struck his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re still afraid of Haeun,” he muttered, which prompted Shinah to bow his head in shame. So, if it wasn’t charm, then it was fear that Haeun ruled her elder subjects by.  She was shaping up to be quite the heir to the throne.

Zeno laughed.  “Seiryuu’s just shy!” he exclaimed.  He stood up, taking Haeun with him, and moved over to Shinah.  Near immediately, Shinah shied away, scooting back whenever Zeno took a step forward.  “Ah… so you are scared…” Zeno mumbled.  “She’s not going to hurt you.”

A small, barely noticeable, frown appeared on Shinah’s lips.  “I might… hurt her…” he whispered as held Ao’s baby protectively in his hands.

Understanding swept through the other three dragons, who all uttered some version of “Oooohhhh” under their breaths.  Shinah had mentioned the same fear when Yona had been pregnant.  Except on the rare occasions that Yona had managed to put his hand on her belly, so he could feel the baby kicking, and he had been subsequently enraptured for hours afterwards, he had stayed far away from her, much to his obvious discomfort. Jae-ha sat up and set aside the rattle while Kija stood and approached Shinah.

Yun, remaining where he was, said “A baby’s more resilient than you think, Shinah.  All you have to do is hold her properly.”

“Plus,” Jae-ha continued, “you have complete control of your dragon eyes now.”

Kija, with his hand held reverently above his heart, kneeled down.  “You are one of the most careful men I have ever known, Shinah.  Nothing you would ever do could hurt her.”

Zeno offered one of his sunniest smiles, one that could sweep even the most stubborn of people off their feet, and crouched. “Hold her, Seiryuu!” he exclaimed with a little laugh in his voice.  Shinah glanced between the two dragons before him, his eyes briefly darting over Hak, Yun, and Jae-ha, before he shyly looked down and over his left shoulder.  Some months ago, Yona had told Hak a tidbit about Shinah’s shyness.

“He’s been getting more confident over the years,” she had said, her voice wiser than any sage and kinder than any saint.  “But he still gets nervous easily.  I noticed that his hands shake whenever he’s scared.”

As Zeno and Kija continued to prod Shinah to carry Haeun, Hak spotted the trembling in Shinah’s fingers, how they twitched and tightened their grip of Ao’s baby. Hak sighed and got to his feet. Time to knock out two birds with one stone.

“Stop bothering him and let me hold her,” he stated, moving to stand behind Zeno, practically hovering over the much shorter man.

Zeno looked up and pouted.  “Mister gets to hold her all the time!” he protested.  “Let us have fun, too!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Hak noticed Shinah sneak away and over to Yun and Jae-ha.  Okay, one bird down.  “I’m her father.  Family before friends.”

Haeun watched them with strangely curious eyes, her hand stuck in her mouth, before she erupted into a giggle.  “Da!” she proclaimed, wriggling in Zeno’s hold. “Daaaaa!!!”  She reached out with her other arm, her fingers grasping the air for him.

Hak chuckled.  “That’s my girl,” he answered, leaning over Zeno’s shoulder to place a kiss on her head.  However, as soon as his lips made contact with Haeun’s black hair, she was pulled away from him.  He side-eyed Zeno, who frowned as he held the still-wriggling Haeun as far from Hak as his arms allowed.

As much as Hak loved Yona and, to a certain extent, loved his friends, he was about ready to pummel Zeno and happily deal with the aftermath (a.k.a. Yona being angry with him).  To think he ever believed Zeno was a reasonable guy.  He should’ve known better.

Hak lunged in Haeun’s direction, intent on taking her from Zeno’s hands.  When he reached her, she flew up, then to the far other side of Zeno when Hak tried to grab her again.  Hak glared down at Zeno, who returned the sentiment with an expression Hak had only ever seen on the battlefield.  He jumped to the other side, only for Zeno to hop forward.  They continued in this manner, chasing and being chased like two rabbits in a fight, until, finally, Yun appeared behind Zeno.  He caught the stupidly fast yellow dragon warrior and hurriedly took Haeun from his hands.

“You idiot!” he admonished.  “You’re going to make her throw up if you keep running around! Don’t you know that babies’ stomachs are super sensitive?!  I don’t care if you say you’ve raised them before, because you obviously don’t know a thing!  And you! Hak!  Don’t encourage Zeno!  I know you’re her father, but you get to see her a lot more than we do!  Don’t be greedy!”

“…Uh…lad…?”

“What!?”

“The kid already threw up,” Zeno stated.  He pointed to the liquid bile dripping from Haeun’s lips and chin and pooling over Yun’s fists.  Screeching, Yun straightened his arms and held her as far away from him as he could.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier!?” he demanded while Kija approached with a cloth.

“The lad was talking so fast, it was hard to interrupt!” Zeno answered, scratching the back of his head calmly, as if he hadn’t just invoked the wrath of a genius pretty boy—well, Yun was technically a man, having made it into his twentieth year alive not too long ago, but it was hard to break the habit.  Kija, meanwhile, hurried to wipe Yun’s knuckles, managing the catch the bile before it hit the rug.

“Then you should have cleaned her up before trying to interrupt me!” Yun retorted.  Scowling, he passed Haeun to Kija, who began to wipe away the liquid on her mouth and chin.  With a huff, Yun approached Hak, his hands held protectively away from his body. “Hey, your Majesty, tell me where to go so I can wash my hands.”

Hak stifled the snicker tickling his throat and pointed east.  From the expression of sheer anger on Yun’s face, Hak figured it’d be in his best interest to hold off teasing him.  “Some of the servants should be nearby.  Go find one and ask for a bowl of water.”

“Thanks…” Yun grumbled before walking over to the exit. Shinah jumped up from his hiding place behind Jae-ha and rushed over to door, opening it for Yun, following him outside, then closing it politely behind them.  Jae-ha sprung into laughter once they were gone.

“I worry how he’d treat his own child if he reacts that badly to a bit of throw-up,” Jae-ha commented.  Shaking his head with an endeared smile and stood.

“The lad’s nice!” Zeno responded.  “But he’d probably yell at his kid a lot.”

“I doubt he would ever intentionally harm his child, however,” Kija interjected as Jae-ha came over to Hak and threw an all-too-friendly arm around his shoulders.  Haeun playfully grabbed Kija’s bangs, tugging at his hair.  Kija twitched in pain, but laughed and smiled, regardless.  “That hurts,” he told Haeun, his voice teasing and unbothered, while he carefully pulled her hand away from his bangs.

“Yun would probably be yelling a lot during the first few months,” Hak added.  He held out his arms, expectantly, towards Kija.  “She still hasn’t let us sleep at night.”  With a bit of a frown, and after the most obvious of hesitations, Kija passed Haeun to Hak.  Smirking victoriously, Hak held his daughter to his chest and smacked Jae-ha’s hand when the green dragon warrior tried to pat her head.

“I admire your persistence,” Jae-ha said as he shook his stinging hand and backed away.

“Don’t worry, mister!  She’ll let you two sleep soon,” Zeno declared.  “Babies start going through the whole night without crying around now.”

Haeun grasped the outer fold of Hak’s robe and stuck it in her mouth.  He couldn’t help the small chuckle that burst from him.  “That’s nice to know.”

The doors to the throne room opened with a bit of flourish.  He turned, expecting to see Yun.  Instead, he saw Yona, dressed in all her queenly attire, the crown balanced nicely on her head.  The guards, standing at the door handles, bowed their heads to her as she entered. After a bit of searching, her eyes landed on the group, a smile more beautiful than the entire world alighting on her painted lips.

“There you are!  I was wondering where you guys had taken her,” Yona uttered as she gathered her skirts in her hands and hurried over to the group.  “It’s nice to see you, as well,” she said to Hak, standing on her toes.  He obliged her and bent down, receiving a kiss on his cheek before delivering a kiss to her lips.  He didn’t miss how she blushed, ever so slightly, with joy.

“I was beginning to think you were going to leave me with these guys,” he told her as she planted a kiss on their daughter’s head. “You wouldn’t believe what they put me through.”

“You make it sound like we’re criminals~” Jae-ha teasingly complained.

“I could easily send you to prison,” Hak immediately replied.

Jae-ha sighed dramatically.  Kija and Zeno, meanwhile, exchanged quick hugs with Yona before silently deciding to take their leave.  “Fine~ I can tell you don’t want me~” Jae-ha whined theatrically. With a playful skip in his step, he followed after Kija and Zeno, turning around at the door to shout to Yona, “If he throws me in jail, come visit me,” before finally leaving.  The doors closed behind them.

Yona snickered behind her hand.  “Sounds like they were putting you through a lot.”

Hak shifted Haeun to his shoulder.  “You wouldn’t believe what they did to me.”  Smiling, he leaned down and took a kiss, sweeter than any fruit, just as wonderful as every kiss he had ever taken from his beautiful wife.  She returned the kiss and snuck her fingers, roughened by years of combat, into his hair, pushing against his neck to bring him closer to her.  He wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her into him. She laughed into his lips.  He broke the kiss, rejuvenated.

“I love you,” she whispered to him.

The most amazing thing of all was hearing those words from her.


	2. A Second Too Soon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even in times of joy, suffering must still appear. But they have survived, again and again, and they will not give in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For whatever reason, I went the feels route for this chapter. Warning for mentions of infant death (but no actual occurrence). Comments are appreciated! <3

            There were a number of things Yona loved.  As a child, first and foremost had been her father.  As she grew older, it had been Soo-Won, and him alone for a long, long time.  Then, when she had lost those two people, her heart had grown wider, and had begun to know all the things she had once ignored.  Her people and her friends became her sources of strength, and soon enough, she had discovered new loves, and had matured upon them.  Long before she had risen to throne, she had Hak, a man she should have known she loved all her life.  Not too long after she had been crowned as the queen, her heart came to love two more human beings, the first a girl, the second a boy.

            “Chul-bae, don’t be so fussy.”

            Being both a mother and a queen was no easy task, of course.  Haeun, right from her time in the womb, was a handful.  If she hadn’t been kicking, then she had been pressing against Yona’s bladder.  If she wasn’t screaming, then she was desperately trying to pull down Yona’s robes.  There had been plenty of occasions when she interrupted a Five Tribes meeting to demand her mother’s attention.  Not even having the ever-vigilant Hak on daughter duty could stop her.  But Yona was the Queen of Kouka, nevertheless.  She had lands to manage, people to negotiate with, and—in preparation for the worst case scenario—wars to plan.  Having the newborn Chul-bae on top of it all left her bones aching and her muscles pleading for respite.  Somehow, he was even more temperamental and needy than his elder sister.

            “Are you hungry?  Tired?  Please tell me what’s wrong…”

            Out of the corner of her eye, Yona spotted two maids coming down the hallway.  Trepidation clogged her throat.  Surely, there was something they needed to tell her.  Surely, there would be urgent business for her to attend to.  Surely, they would offer to take care of her huffy son for her.  Without second thought, Yona rounded a corner, and thought of the best route of escape.  When she was younger and more mischievous, she, Hak, and Soo-won would tour the inside of the castle and find many a hidden passageway.  They would sneak into those places to avoid the worst of their parents’ demands.  Using those memories, which had long since stopped having meaning for her, she hurried down the corridor, turned a few more corners, and crouched in a narrow hallway that almost no one crossed.  In spite of how terribly Chul-bae struggled in her arms, she cradled her son to her chest.

            “Come on, now.  Don’t cry,” she whispered.  Tickling his cheek, she watched as Chul-bae instinctively turned his head and caught her finger in his toothless mouth.  The tears stopped coming, leaving his small face damp.  He suckled at the nail and skin, and she laughed at how simple he could be.  He stared up at her with Hak’s deep blue eyes.  She leaned down to press a kiss to his head.  “See?  That’s much better.”

            Yona heard the maids chatter.  She hushed herself until their talk became distant mumbles.  Sighing, she relaxed her back against a wall and sat down.  It had been too long since she had last rested.  Relief swarmed through her muscles like a tidal wave.  Chul-bae, apparently unaware of his mother’s plight, tried to grab her finger with his tiny, uncoordinated hands.  “Heheh, what are you trying to do?” she asked him.  Carefully, she extricated her finger from his mouth.  Almost immediately, he began to wriggle again, huffing and puffing with dissatisfaction.  She could already tell he was going to take after Hak.  To avoid drawing attention, she tickled Chul-bae’s tummy, and soon enough he was giggling and kicking his skinny legs with excitement.  Ah, the candor of childhood.

            “That’s a good boy,” Yona sang.  “Momma loves your laugh.”  Around them, everything was silent.  The only sound was Chul-bae’s giggle, which was squeaky like a badly-tuned instrument, yet as bouncy as a bunny, and full of all the love she and Hak had poured into him.  His laugh was truly music to her ears.  It was a reminder of a miracle, one that she never stopped praying for.  She never knew when it might be taken away—children born as early as he was rarely survived.  But she could see in Chul-bae all the resilience Hak had, that strength that had pulled both him and her through the toughest of times, away from snake nests and up the stairs of a castle they had never thought they would see again.  She could hear in Chul-bae’s laughs and cries the warrior’s heart that possessed her husband.  She could have hope, at least, because Hak had never failed her.  But, gods, she was scared.

            She wasn’t aware of her tears until they seeped into her collar.  Despite her fingers still gliding across his ticklish tummy, Chul-bae looked at her curiously—almost solemnly.  Yona sniffled.  Gods, she was still weak.  Hak had told her, many times before, that it was good—that she kept her compassion and her frail nature after the years of toil she had been under.  He had reassured her, so many, many times, that her weakness was her strength.  But she failed to understand how her worried heart could be a strength, especially when it brought tears to her eyes when she had to be tearless.  Chul-bae needed her support.  She couldn’t possibly give it when the thought of him made her cry.

            Tiny fingers tickled her lips.  She sniffled, and kissed Chul-bae’s outstretched hand.  She could feign strength, if it was for him.  “Sorry about that.”  She brought her knees up and placed his head against them, laying the rest of his worryingly skinny body in her lap.  His pupils moved around aimlessly, searching through the new perspective with a fascination Hak had had as a child, when the snow absolutely fascinated him.

            “Say…” she whispered, a bit playfully, to her son.  “Would you like to hear stories about your Father?”

 

* * *

 

            A lot of benefits came with being the Queen’s advisor.  Namely, _books_.  Lots and lots of books.  Sure, his job entailed that he rarely had a moment to sit down and rest, but in the free time he did have, Yun could read to his heart’s desire.  The royal library contained more texts than he could fathom, most of them about history or politics, but there was at least one scroll or book about every possible subject.  If he had anything he wanted to learn more about, all he had to do was write an order and give it to the right person.  No longer did he have to scavenge through trash or dwindling funds just to find something to read.  It was a happiness he could barely describe.

            It was even better knowing that he no longer had to worry for Ik-Su.  Of course, that damn priest still insisted on traveling as often as possible, following the word of god to even the furthest outskirts of Kouka.  But he never traveled alone.  With a flick of his wrist, Yun could order soldiers and cooks and servants to follow Ik-Su, ensuring his safety and well-being.  It was a little sad, rarely being able to see the man who had raised him (though he was loathe to admit to anyone about the yearning in his heart).  But Yun could rest easy, knowing that Ik-Su was safe.

            “Hey, what’re you doing?” a familiar voice asked.  Yun looked up from the scroll in his hands, an interesting account of the Earth Tribe’s history, to see Hak standing at the entrance to the library.  His kingly robes hung from his broad shoulders, hiding his muscles beneath silks and cotton.  Haeun, fourteen months old and as rowdy as ever, clung to her father’s leg.  Her hair, black and thin like Hak’s, reached only the tips of her ears, but her eyes were as wide and as purple as Yona’s.  She watched everything like a hawk, and she fixed her gaze on Yun as he left his sunny seat by the window to greet Hak at the door.

            “Just reading,” Yun replied.  He dug his hand into the pouch he habitually kept at his hip and pulled out a piece of candy.  Haeun immediately detached herself from Hak to hold out her arms.

            “Treat!” she exclaimed, stumbling forward.  Hak chuckled while Yun crouched down to meet her at eye-level.

            “Yep,” Yun sang, “Uncle Yun has Haeun’s favorite candy.  What do we say if we want the candy?”

            Haeun rubbed her lips together in contemplation.  After a few patient moments, she finally uttered, “Please…?”

            Yun couldn’t help his laughter.  “That’s right!” he said between giggles.  He held out the little ball of candy and popped it into Haeun’s lips.  Her hands flew over her mouth, her sandaled feet stamping the ground in rapid succession.

            Hak snickered behind his fist.  “Wow, what do you put in that to make her so excited?  She’s completely spoiled on it.”

            “Sugar.  A whole lot of sugar,” Yun answered.  He shared a smile with his friend before picking up Haeun and standing.  “Are you going to the training grounds?  I heard the soldiers are antsy for your grueling training regimen.”

            Hak barked a laugh.  “That’s just because they’re not used to it yet!  Give them a few more months.  But, yeah, I’m on my way over.  Just thought I would check in on you.”

            Haeun began kicking, so Yun put her down to let her run around.  She quickly started to chase after something imaginary, babbling incoherently with excitement.  “Nothing regal to report?” he questioned.

            Hak shook his head.  “Not yet.”  He diverted his gaze from Yun to his hyperactive daughter.  “But I did hear that Yona isn’t showing up.  The ladies-in-waiting are searching for her, because they want her to pick the color for some carpet or whatever, but they can’t find her.”  Hak shrugged before meeting Yun’s eyes again.  “Can’t blame her, though.  I’d run away, too, if I had to deal with something so boring.”

            “That’s because you’re lazy about everything that isn’t Yona or fighting,” Yun bit.  Hak smiled, almost victoriously.  Haeun ran into Yun’s leg, so he looked down and picked her back up at her insistence.  “But it’s weird for Yona to not be around.  She’s usually pretty easy to find.  Do you think it might have to do with Chul-bae?”

            Hak’s face contorted, bearing an expression only a father could wear.  Yun looked at Haeun.  While she was a miracle in herself, her existence proof of the happiness of two people who had suffered for too long, Chul-bae was a success constantly teetering on failure.  He had managed to live for two months, but it was not much, since he had been born a month too soon.  Yun could only pretend to not notice the shaking in Yona and Hak’s hands at the mention of Chul-bae.

            “It could…” Hak eventually muttered.  He waved his hands towards himself, in a motion indicating that he wanted something to be given to him, so Yun passed Haeun over to her father.  “She barely puts Chul-bae down anymore.  And she isn’t sleeping, even when he is.  It’s worrisome.”

            Yun hummed, wringing his hands.  He stepped out of the library, Hak following him and closing the door for him.  “I’ll go looking for her,” Yun said.  “Do you have any idea where she might be?”

            Hak shifted Haeun on his hip, completely ignoring how she tugged at his hair.  Yun had to wonder if Hak had absolutely no idea what pain was.  “Try the West Wing.  We used to hide there when we were kids.”

            Yun nodded.  “Will do.  Have fun driving the soldiers into the dirt.”

            Hak managed a smile.  “I’ll do my best.”  Waving his hand goodbye, Hak turned around and, after whispering something to Haeun, hurried off to the training grounds, his daughter’s giggles echoing down the hallway.  Once they were out of sight, Yun made his way over to the West Wing, and began his search.

            When he had first moved into the castle, Yun had been eighteen years old and exhausted from the end of Yona’s journey.  All those long nights, tired feet, and nightmares had finally been over.  He could begin to forget the horror of seeing his friends drenched in blood that had been both theirs and someone else’s.  At twenty-one years old, Yun knew almost every little nook and cranny of Hiryuu Castle—where the walls were cracked, where the children raised in the castle had made stains that could never been washed away or covered up, where Yona had hidden all of her favorite presents when her father had been alive—he knew it all.  Therefore it took him almost no time at all to find the section of the West Wing where the architecture was old, the rooms were desolate, and anyone could hide there without being easily discovered.  Yona was in a dead-end hallway, her queenly robes pooled around her and heavy on her shoulders.  Her knees were drawn up, giving Chul-bae a place to sleep in her lap.  She noticed Yun almost immediately, and held up a finger to her mouth to keep him quiet.

            “The servants are looking for you,” Yun whispered as he moved to sit down beside her.

            “Is it something important?” she whispered back.

            “Hak says they just need you to pick out colors, but I’m sure someone needs you for something important,” Yun replied as he threw his arm around her shoulders.  He pulled her into a side hug and she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

            “Sorry… I’m really tired.  I need to rest,” Yona mumbled.  Yun glanced at Chul-bae, resting peacefully in his mother’s lap, and he could remember why he had detested the gods so much as a child—they were cruel, after all.  Yun played with the fringes of Yona’s long, dawn red hair.

            “I understand.  Has Chul-bae been sleeping more?”

            A soft sigh escaped Yona’s painted lips.  The bags under her eyes were heavy and almost dreadfully purple.  “He’s better than he was last month.  From what I can tell, he’s finally able to spend the whole night breathing.”

            “You need to sleep, too, you know,” Yun reminded.  A smile, albeit pained, reached Yona’s mouth.  “You can assign people to watch over him.  You don’t have to bear this all alone.”

            “I thought about that,” Yona responded.  She closed her eyes, revealing the soft pink brushed across her eyelids.  “But I couldn’t leave him alone like that.  Every moment I’m not with him, I’m filled with this inexplicable dread.  I’m scared, Yun.”  She sucked in her bottom lip, tears dripping from her eyes and trickling over her cheeks.  “What if I look away from him for a few minutes and he _dies_ , Yun?  What am I supposed to do then?  I have to protect him.  He’s the most precious thing in the world to me!”

            Yun wasn’t familiar with mothers.  His own had left him before he could remember her (rumor had it that she had gone out to find work, but had been taken for food by roving bandits).  He had been left in the hands of the grannies of the village, women who had known brighter times in the Fire Tribe.  They had taught him how to read and how to make rudimentary medicine, but they had died before he could learn any more.  They had been the last vestiges of womanly influence in Yun’s life until Yona had arrived.  Every mother he had met during his journey with the Happy Hungry Bunch had been struggling, one way or another.  They all had a burden on his shoulders he could never truly understand.  He could only hope to help relieve the load.

            A sob broke from Yona.  Yun moved to hold her in both arms, but Chul-bae stirred from sleep.  Somehow sensing him, Yona removed herself from Yun and began stroking his forehead with her finger.  Though her tears flowed, she bit down on her bottom lip to hold off another sob.  Amazing.  She was truly amazing.  “I’m sorry, Yun.  I’m pushing all these troubles onto you.”

            Yun shook his head and rubbed her shoulder.  “No, it’s okay.  You need to talk about this at some point.  It’s not good to try to bear it all alone.”

            Yona was silent.  Chul-bae gripped one of her fingers in his unbelievably small hand, and she placed a kiss above one of his blue eyes.  Somehow, she appeared frailer than her premature son.  “Hak won’t talk about it,” she whispered.

            Yun reached for the back of her neck, pushing aside her long tresses and carefully avoiding a scar she had received from an enemy arrow three years ago.  “What do you mean?” he asked as he began to massage at a tense muscle in her neck.

            Yona pulled her hair over her shoulder, giving Yun more room to work with.  “I try to talk to him about Chul-bae, but he always leaves when I do.  He’s not ready, I guess…”

            Yun furrowed his eyebrows.  “You need to talk to him, don’t you?”

            “I guess so…” Yona mumbled.

 

* * *

 

            Being a King was not so bad.  Especially since his wife was so absolutely awe-inspiring that most of everyone bowed down to her without much objection, therefore allowing Hak to focus on the things that most interested him.  Call him lazy or selfish—he couldn’t exactly disagree—but he knew full well that he was not made for politics.  He was a warrior.  He had been raised as such, so it was all he really knew.  Yona, his wonderful wife, was born for her kingdom.  She handled it with a gentle fist, cultivating its many wonders and possibilities in a way only she could do.  Hak had no right to intervene.  Instead, he handled anything concerning war—soldiers, supplies, borders, negotiations, weapons, prisoners, and everything in between.  Of course, Yona always had the final word on those matters, but they were his responsibilities.  Those, and his daughter, Haeun.  She was certainly one of his many obligations.

            “Daddy!  Up!” Haeun shouted as they walked across the training grounds.  Soldiers, sweating under the early autumn sun, watched them.  Haeun clung to Hak’s robes, stumbling in her steps.  He kept his pace respectfully slow for her—and also because the slower he walked, the tenser the soldiers became, and he couldn’t deny his amusement in their fear of him.

            “Make up your mind,” Hak teased.  He reached down and patted her head.  “I put you down just a minute ago, and now you want back up.”

            “I want up!” she repeated with a little jump for emphasis.  Hak chuckled and picked her up in one quick swoop.  She laughed merrily as he threw her over his shoulder, and he swore there was nothing sweeter in the world than her glee.  It was like a promise to him, one that resounded throughout his very being like every time Yona said she loved him.  She resembled her mother in that vein—just a smile from either Yona or Haeun could easily bring him to his knees, no matter how many years he spent or would spend with them.

            He caught a soldier smiling, but he decidedly did nothing about it.  In his humble opinion, everyone should grin at the sight of him and Haeun.  His children were his everything—his good times and his bad, and all his life in between, but they especially were miracles, crafted for the entire world to see.  Joy was the only fitting response to their existences.

            Though, Chul-bae’s life was still a big question.  In the meantime, however, Hak would like it if people smiled instead of grimaced when they saw him.  Even a child slated for death was a precious life.  Yona had taught him that, time and time again.

            When he reached the weapons rack, Hak picked up his _hsu quandao_ , still a threatening armament after all its years of use.  Just as he held out the blade at a soldier, about to prompt him to a fight, the all too recognizable voice of an angry, genius pretty boy-man screeched across the field.  Soon enough, soldiers were bowing in rapid succession as Yun ran toward Hak at an impossible speed.

            For a moment, Hak thought he was about to meet his death.

            “You!” Yun screamed when he finally reached Hak, out of breath but frightfully fuming.  “Go talk to your wife, damn it!”

            Hak tossed his weapon to a soldier, who quickly fell down at the sheer weight of his _hsu quandao_.  “What’s wrong?” he asked as he set Haeun down on the ground.

            Yun hunched over, hands on his knees, while he desperately attempted to even his breathing.  “Chul-bae…” he muttered.  “She wants to talk to you… about Chul-bae…”

            “Where is she?” Hak questioned.

            Yun took a deep breath and held it in for a few seconds longer than necessary.  “West Wing, where you, her, and Soo-won used to hide,” he said when he finally exhaled.

            The dead-end, narrow hallway.  Hak nodded.  “Got it.”  He crouched down to meet eyes with his daughter.  “Haeun, make sure to whip these soldiers into shape for me.”

            She stared at him, confused, for a beat, before she giggled and cheered, “Okay!”

            He smirked and tousled her hair.  “That’s my girl.”  Hak stood and began his race over to the West Wing.

            It took him no time at all, really.  His muscles had the route memorized, taking him around familiar corners and past old stains in the walls.  He could hear the children who no longer existed laughing as they ran through the halls, calling each other’s names with a familiarity Hak no longer knew.  He could still see Soo-won with his short hair and jovial, authentic smile as he ran from the quick-footed Hak and the stubby-legged Yona, as well as the look of surprise on the young Yona’s face whenever Hak found her during hide-and-seek.  They were good memories, though they barely meant a thing to him anymore.

            He found Yona where he knew she would be.  The dead-end, narrow hallway had barely changed, except the walls were a bit more cracked and there was a lot more dust than he remembered.  Yona was cradling Chul-bae to her chest, singing him lullabies that King Il had once sang to her.  Hak sat down beside her, and waited until she finished her hymn.

            “Your singing voice is still terrible,” he commented.  Yona slapped his arm.  “No wonder it takes so long for Haeun to go to sleep!”

            Yona pouted.  He laughed.  “You’re so mean, Hak,” she whined.  He smirked and kissed the crown of her head.

            “Sorry, sorry,” he whispered.  Hak placed a hand against Chul-bae’s head and tried not to be struck by awe and fear when he noticed that he could easily clamp his entire palm over his child’s skull.  “Yun said you needed to talk to me about our son.  What’s wrong?”

            A smile that had lied to Hak too many times appeared on Yona’s lips.  “It’s nothing,” she tried to say, but she was interrupted by Hak suddenly pulling her into his arms.  When she attempted to speak again, he pressed his mouth against hers, and he kept kissing her until she was subdued.  He hugged her close, careful not to crush Chul-bae.

            “It’s not nothing,” he replied, weaving his fingers into her hair.  “If something is bothering you, I want to know.”

            He could hear the shaking in her breath.  “But when I try to tell you, you leave!  I want to talk about Chul-bae, but you always leave!”

            He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and bit his tongue.  He was an idiot.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

            “I know you’re scared, Hak!” Yona continued, voice rising like lava.  “But I’m scared, too!”  She gripped his cloak, burying her face in his chest.  “I need you, too.  Please…”  Her words crumbled into sobs, wretched and forlorn, making his heart shatter with detest.  All he could do was hold her, soothe her, and pray to gods who had already dragged them both through so much.  He whispered apologies into her hair and against her cheeks until her tears were purged from her system and all that was left of her was her exhaustion.

            “I’m sorry,” Hak muttered again.

            “I know…” she mumbled back.  She looked down at Chul-bae.  He was still breathing.  She smiled sadly and kissed his forehead.  “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

            Hak shifted, opening his legs and pulling Yona into the space.  She curled up against him.  “I don’t know,” he answered.  “Nobody does.”  Not even Zeno, who had cared for countless children, could say for certain if Chul-bae would survive, or how long he might have left.  “But I know that I will love you no matter what happens.”

            She looked up at him.  Light was returning to her eyes.  She was as gorgeous as the day he had realized he was in love with her.  “And I will love you, as well.  But what if we have another child, and they turn out like Chul-bae?  What if all our children die early on?  What if Haeun’s the only one who makes it?”

            He kissed her, tasting the salt on her lips, and adoring her all the more.  “Then that’s what happens.  Yona, I promised to stay by your side.  I believe in you.  We won’t be taken down by tragedies.”

            Silence passed between them, but she smiled, slight wrinkles in her skin, and she kissed him with an adoring vigor.  It would be okay.  Everything would be okay.


	3. Three or Four, Maybe More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't let anyone ever believe that I'm good at updating.

It had begun calmly.  Well, okay, not exactly calmly, because every soldier and servant in the castle had been in an absolute state of panic upon hearing that Queen Yona had fainted while walking the castle grounds.  But everything after that was pretty calm.  Except for Yun.  Yun was never calm.

“For the last time, Yona, sit down and stay there!”

“But, Yun, I have to make sure the chefs don’t put any peas in Chul-bae’s dinner.  You know how stubborn he’s gotten about eating if there are any peas.”

“I don’t care!  Chul-bae can take care of himself!”

“He’s two years old!!”

Yona’s collapse had, in all honestly, been expected.  She was thirty weeks pregnant with her third child, yet still she insisted on running her country down to the most miniscule of details.  While Hak had made sure to leave _plenty_ of time for her to relax, by taking up more of her duties and offering more back massages than was probably necessary, one thing he had learned from Yona’s past two pregnancies was that she had _no idea_ how to calm down when she needed to.  While this was her first time to actually faint, both Hak and Yun had known it would happen sooner or later.

“Don’t starve my son!” Yona contested, puffing her cheeks way too cutely.

“I’m not going to starve your son!” Yun argued, crossing his arms with a pointed glare.

“Hey, I’m here, too,” Hak interjected.  He sat on the bed, ankles crossed and his legs resting quite comfortably across the mattress.  “I can go check on the chefs for you.”  Not that he actually would bother to leave the bed on the rare occasion he had an excuse to stay in it.

“Oh, please, you wouldn’t go even if I asked you,” Yona replied as she playfully swatted his arm.  “You get to stay in bed with the excuse that you need to ‘be here for your wife’ to ‘make sure she’s fine’ so there’s no way you’d leave,” she said, imitating Hak’s voice when detailing his excuse.  “A nation could declare war on us and you wouldn’t budge.”

“You know me so well,” he joked before dodging one of her critical head swats.

“Well, anyway,” Yona grumbled, “I’m _fine_.  You two don’t have to stay here to take care of me.”

“It hasn’t even been ten minutes since you fainted!” Yun shouted.  “You’re going to stay here and rest, okay?”  He huffed and turned on his heel.  “I’ll go make sure there are no peas in Chul-bae’s food, so lay down for a bit, will you?”

Yona leaned into her pillows, her calloused hands folding over her pregnant belly.  “Can you also ask the chefs to put in extra carrots for Haeun?  She really likes them.”

Yun sighed.  “Will you stay in bed if I do?”

Yona frowned and her eyes darted to the side, a telltale sign that she whatever she said next, she might go back on.  “Yes,” she mumbled.

Yun stared, surprisingly intense, at Hak.  “If you let her move out of the bed, I will find you and I will hurt you!”

While Yun wasn’t particularly frightening (especially since he could no longer take away Hak’s food), Hak was _more_ than happy to keep his wife in bed.  “Yes, sir!” he sang.  “We’ll make sure to stay in bed all day, sir!”  That earned him a punch in the arm from Yona, but he could care less.

 

* * *

 

Of course, it was difficult to keep the kingdom running when both the Queen and her King were confined to bed.  Yun, as the Queen’s advisor, could handle most of the work by himself — he didn’t exactly know the wonders of resting, much to Hak’s displeasure.  But there was only so much an advisor could do, even if they were Yun.  For example, training the soldiers.  All it took was one particularly clumsy soldier accidentally throwing his spear through a window to make Hak realize that he definitely couldn’t leave everything to Yun.  Though Yun was actually rather skilled with a sword, he wasn’t exactly made for training people, let alone soldiers.

Without Hak to keep an eye on Yona (and to playfully pin her down), though, the Queen was likely to move around.  Not even a few hours into his return to his King duties, Hak heard from several distraught ladies-in-waiting that Queen Yona was rushing around the castle again!!  She won’t listen to anyone!!  Please, stop her!

So, what was a husband to do, when his busybody, terribly pregnant wife wouldn’t rest like she should, but he couldn’t take any more time off to watch her, and the only other person who could make her stay in bed (Yun) was too busy doing her work?  Call in extra help, of course.

“Ah, the castle looks different.  Did you make some renovations?”

“On the windows, yeah.”

After their first year in the castle, the dragons had dispersed to live their own lives.  Kija had returned to his village, seeing out the last of his Granny’s years before officially resuming to his duty as the leader of his people.  Two years later, and he still hadn’t married, but, according to the White Snake himself, he was _perfectly_ fine with that.  Shinah had wanted to see the world, but he hadn’t wanted to go alone.  Zeno, meanwhile, had seen enough of the world that he could probably map it all out from his memory, but he grew restless when he had to stay in one place for too long.  The easy solution was to dispatch Shinah and Zeno as the court messengers, and so they had traveled throughout Kouka and the outer countries together, carrying all of Yona’s decrees.  Jae-ha had gone home to Awa.  Gigan was still well and alive, but Jae-ha more than gladly took over her role as the leader of the former-pirates of Awa.  Unsurprisingly, though, all it took was one letter about Yona’s condition to have the four dragons rushing back to the castle.

Haeun, of course, was more than overjoyed to see her “uncles” again.  They visited whenever they could, so she remembered them plenty well.

“Uncle Jae-ha!” she screamed as soon as she spotted the dragons.  Pushing back her little brother, Haeun raced forward, arms stretched out and teeth bared in a giant smile.  Without delay, Jae-ha swooped down and picked her up, throwing her into the air and catching her with sparkles in his eyes.  Her laughter rang throughout the entrance hall as Jae-ha held her above his head, grinning gratefully.

“How’s my favorite girl doing?” he asked.

“Good!” she answered, kicking her legs as if she were swimming.  “Missed you!”  She gripped a few strands of his bangs and tugged at them playfully.  “Momma missed you too!  She says you’d play with me and tickle me and a whole buncha stuff when you come home!”

Jae-ha chuckled and set Haeun against his hip, arms wrapped around her carefully and his back bent to accommodate her grip on his hair.  “Did she now?” he asked.  “Too bad _Awa_ is my home.  I can’t take you there because your daddy would get angry at me.”

Haeun frowned much too adorably.  “But Momma says you’re friends!  And friends are home!”

The grin on Jae-ha’s face softened, carrying with it the weight of adoration.  “Then I guess you are my home, little Haeun.”

“Oi,” Hak interrupted, holding a dagger to Jae-ha’s ear.  “Don’t get too cozy with my daughter, Droopy Eyes.”

Jae-ha laughed, a little more than nervously.  “There’s no need to be so jealous, Hak.  I’m sure Haeun loves you, too,” he said.  Hak lowered the dagger and Jae-ha mumbled something about how a king shouldn’t be carrying a weapon in front of his daughter.

“Haeun loves daddy!” the three-year-old added, cheery and apparently completely unaware of the temporary danger to Jae-ha’s life.  Hak snickered and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“Ah, Haeun,” Kija suddenly said while he approached them.  She proudly declared her nickname for him (“Uncle Snake!” much to Kija’s chagrin) and she released Jae-ha’s bangs to hold out her hands.  He presented his dragon hand to her and she grabbed his pointer finger, an excited sound of surprise escaping her when she felt his scales, as she usually did.  “Where’s Chul-bae?” Kija asked as she became enraptured with the point of his fingernail.

“Over there,” she answered, indicating his direction with a dramatically comedic tilt of her head.

Not too far in front of the group was Chul-bae, two years old and sporting a full head of hair.  He appeared peculiarly small in his many layers of royal clothing, but his pout and his teary eyes were particularly significant.  Zeno crouched down and stretched out his arms.

“Hey there, prince!  What’re you doing over there?” Zeno asked cheerfully.  Chul-bae looked down, his tiny fingers digging into the fabric of his outermost robe.

“Ah, geez…” Hak sighed out.  “Did you push him down again, Haeun?” he questioned, arms crossed authoritatively.

Haeun frowned again and began fidgeting with Kija’s scales.  “N-no…”

Hak sighed again.  “You did, you definitely did,” he whispered.  He dropped his arms to his sides and approached his son, crouching down much like Zeno did.  “You okay?” he asked Chul-bae, the tips of his fingers held up to his son’s cheeks.  “You’re not hurt?”  It took a while, but eventually Chul-bae shook his head.  “That’s good,” Hak mumbled.  “Do you want to see Uncle Zeno?”  This time, Chul-bae nodded and Zeno, without bothering to stand back up, waddled over to him.  As soon as Zeno’s outstretched arms reached him, Chul-bae leaned into Zeno’s hold.

“Still don’t like to talk, huh?” Zeno joked while he brought Chul-bae to his chest, hugging him tightly but carefully.  Despite surviving for two years after being born prematurely, Chul-bae was still on the fragile side.  He had learned how to walk just fine, but he could only do so for a short amount of time without someone’s assistance.  He could talk as well as any other two year old, also, but only after quite a bit of coercion from an adult.  The most active he ever became was with Yona, his proud mother, or Zeno, his happy-go-lucky uncle, which Hak may or may not be jealous about (you can’t prove anything).

“Yona says he’s starting to use a lot words lately,” Hak said.  He reached out and petted  Chul-bae’s thin hair.

“How fantastic!” Kija responded.  He took back his finger from Haeun and hurried over to Zeno and Hak, kneeling next to them.  Haeun pouted woefully, but Jae-ha nuzzling her head held off her tantrum.  Hak wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch or thank Jae-ha in that moment.  “I was worried Chul-bae would be delayed or impaired somehow.  It’s good to hear that he’s fine.”

Chul-bae stretched up his arms and grabbed Zeno’s neck.  Zeno gladly lifted him, and he immediately snuggled his face into the golden mane that was Zeno’s hair.  The yellow dragon laughed softly.  “He’s tired, though!”

Hak blinked.  “Oh, it must be near naptime.”  Hak turned his gaze to Haeun, doing his best to not glare at the green dragon peppering kisses in her hair.  Yeah, he was probably going to punch Jae-ha later.  “Did you hear that, Haeun?  It’s naptime.”

“No!” Haeun protested.  She slapped her hands over Jae-ha’s mouth and pushed his face away from hers (heh, what a good girl).  “I don’t need a nap!”

“If you brother does, then you do, too,” Hak quipped.

“No!” she argued.  “I wanna see Momma!”

“Well, that _is_ the original reason for our visit,” Kija said.  “Surely we can fulfill Haeun’s request, as well.”

If it weren’t for his tired son (who was probably on the brink of a tantrum if he was forced to stay awake any longer) and his whiny daughter (who certainly loved to throw tantrums at every conceivable opportunity), Hak would’ve thrown some sort of jab at Kija.  Something along the lines of how amazing it was that a White Snake could offer up sound advice.  But, alas, Hak had long since had enough of hearing his kids cry.  “Yeah, sure, whatever.”  He stood up, scratching the back of his head.  “Let’s go see Yona.”

With a cheer from Haeun and Zeno (who thankfully kept his voice low so as to not wake the napping Chul-bae), the group began its trip to the royal bedchamber.  Hak waited until they had all passed him, because surely Yona would be much more pleased to see her dragons first instead of the husband who had been admonishing her to stay in bed, but he noticed that Shinah apparently had the same idea.  In fact, he was still standing at the door, body obscured by the shadows.

“…You’re still afraid of the kids, aren’t you?” Hak asked once the dragons and children were out of hearing distance.  Shinah’s shoulders jumped and he moved a little closer to the wall.  Hak restrained a sigh.  Three years, and Shinah continued to be unfortunately convinced that he could only ever hurt Yona’s children, no matter how hard he tried to not do so.  “You shouldn’t let that stop you from at least seeing Yona.”  Hak walked over to his friend and slammed a hand on his back.  “C’mon, let’s go.”

Shinah’s lips trembled with words he couldn’t find the courage to speak, and he reached inside his shirt to grab Kiiro, one of Ao’s children (where the other four squirrels and their mother was, Hak didn’t know).  But he walked in time with Hak, his legs at least unhindered by his prevailing nervousness.  Kiiro rubbed his (her?) chubby cheeks against Shinah’s pointer finger, an action the blue dragon quickly reciprocated via his nose.  Soon enough, they reached the royal bedchamber, where Yun’s yelling was clearly audible from the room.

“Please, for all you consider holy, keep this crazy woman in bed!” Yun said.  A peek inside revealed that, yep, he was definitely pointing at Yona, who glared rather dangerously at him.

“Gladly,” Jae-ha replied.  After pushing Shinah inside, Hak flashed over to Jae-ha and mercilessly tugged on his ponytail.  The noise that flew from the green dragon’s mouth was most certainly not appropriate for the children present, or for anyone else, really.  “I’ve missed you too, Hak~” he sang.  Kija did the honors and punched Jae-ha in the stomach, careful to avoid Haeun.  Hak took his daughter and handed her to Kija while Jae-ha sunk to the floor, clutching his stomach in misery.

“Don’t touch my wife,” Hak warned.

“Message received,” Jae-ha croaked.

Yun muttered something under his breath.  “Anyway,” he said as he stood up from his chair.  “Watch over her, okay?  I’m worried about her health.”

“H-her health?!” Kija nearly screamed.  He scampered over to Yun, clutching Haeun tightly.  “Is it really that bad?”

Yona shifted forward to speak, but Yun replied before a word could leave her mouth.  “Not really.  But if she keeps exerting herself, I think she might give birth early again.”  Yona’s mouth flew shut.  Her glare softened into a worried stare.  She began to pick at her nails.  Wordlessly, Hak asked for Chul-bae from Zeno, who carefully passed the son to his father.  Before Chul-bae could begin whining about being woken up, Hak lay down in the bed and settled the child between himself and Yona.  Almost immediately, Chul-bae curled up against his mother and returned to his nap.

“Just because one kid survived early birth doesn’t mean another will,” Yun continued.  “So, keep an eye on her.”  He patted Kija’s shoulder.  “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

But just as he began his departure from the bedchamber, Yona grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back a bit too roughly.  Despite his stumbling, Yun’s face didn’t transform into anger, because he knew well enough that Yona, after years of archery practice and sword swinging and carrying children, was muscular but was unaware of her own strength.  “I’m sorry, Yun,” she said, her voice like a river on a moonless night.  “I just…”

“I know,” Yun cut her off.  He took her hand in both of his and kneeled down.  “You’ve got an entire kingdom on your shoulders.  But that’s what we’re here for.  You can take a break once in a while.”

Refreshing silence passed between them, like the first breath of spring air.  A sweet smile grew on Yona’s lips, quickly returned by Yun, and without a word they made a promise to trust each other.  Yun stood, released her, and walked away.  Yona held Hak’s hand and rested her arm around their sleeping son.  Kija, still carrying Haeun, sat down in Yun’s seat.

“So!” Zeno exclaimed as soon as Yun was gone.  “How’s the miss feeling?”

“Just about as fine as I can be when I’m this pregnant,” Yona answered with a small, slightly nervous laugh.

“You two might want to consider slowing down on the children,” Jae-ha said from the floor.  He got up on his knees and relaxed his chin on the foot of the bed.

“It’s been two years since our last one,” Hak commented.  “Another one was bound to be on the way.”

Yona sighed.  “Yeah, I guess it was.”

Hak raised a brow.  “Did you not want another one?”

She squeezed his hand.  “It’s not that.  I love our kids.  I could just do without the entire birthing process.”

“S-speaking of birth,” Kija interrupted.  “How’s the baby?”

“Oh!  He’s been kicking!” Yona replied.  She rubbed her large stomach and chuckled.  “A lot, actually.  I think he’s excited to come out.”

Disregarding warning or permission, Zeno flopped onto the bed and planted his hands over Yona’s stomach.  In just a few seconds, he was cooing in awe.  “Wow!  He’s kicking with both feet.”

“What? Really?” Jae-ha asked.  Stretching over Zeno, he stuck his hand on Yona’s stomach, soon followed by Kija and Haeun.

“Momma!  He’s gonna break through you!” Haeun exclaimed.  Hak could only grimace at his daughter’s naïve brutality.

“I hope not!” Yona said with a laugh.  “Though I guess that’d be easier than having to push him out…”

“Please don’t,” Hak mumbled.  He didn’t exactly need the mental image of an infant kicking his way out of her stomach.  Swallowing down his nausea, Hak shifted to relax further into the bed.  He was ready to take a nap and drown out the usual dragon excitement over Yona’s pregnancy.  But just as he was about to gaze up at the ceiling, he noticed Shinah, stuck in a corner next to the door.  “Hey, Shinah, aren’t you going to feel Yona’s belly?”

And, suddenly, the atmosphere changed, from cheerful and adoring to determined and frightful.  In a flash, the three dragons were at Shinah’s side, grabbing him and dragging him over to Yona.

“Come on now, Shinah, you never really touched her belly for more than a second!” Jae-ha protested.

“You can’t overcome a fear if you don’t try,” Kija declared.

“Do it!  Do it!” Zeno cheered.

Before he could so much as verbally object, Shinah’s hands were forced onto Yona’s belly, and his dragon brothers were most certainly keeping him there.  Seconds passed steadily and, soon enough, Shinah’s eyes widened.  He made a face Hak had seen a few times — when Shinah’s eyes took him into the skies, to places that only stars could reach, and the blue dragon was lost to the world in his awe, he held the very same face he had on as he stared at Yona’s stomach.

“The baby… looks strange…” Shinah mumbled.

Yona laughed.  “That’s because he’s growing.”  Apparently, she wasn’t at all disturbed by the fact that her friend was looking inside her body with his almighty dragon eyes.  Well, then again, out of all the things they had experienced because of the dragon warriors, this was probably one of the less strange occurrences.

Shinah shook his head slowly.  “No.  There’s two… they look… strange.”

The breath Hak was taking suddenly flew out.  “T-two?!”

Shinah nodded.  “Two… One is a boy, the other is a girl…”

Scratch that.  This was _definitely_  a strange experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pleaaaseee comment. The lack of feedback so far has been really discouraging! I want to know that I'm doing a good job or if I need to improve


	4. A Birthday Wish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cynicwithatwist requested some Jae-ha & Haeun interaction, so here you go~

He landed in the palace gardens, bag heavy on his back.  The chill of the incoming winter winds was still fresh on his face as he idly scratched his cheek, trying to remember where oh where the Queen would be at this time of day.

The most likely places would be in the throne room, the royal library, one of her children’s rooms, or somewhere “secret” with her beloved husband.  But the King liked to train his soldiers well into the evening, more than happy to leave his wife to all the kingdom-related work while he tired out his men’s bodies, and after seven years of marriage and four children, he doubted the Queen would be very inclined to taking the King to a midday rendezvous.  Moreover, the day was far from done, so the children, even the three year olds, would be in their lessons or playing with the ladies-in-waiting. He had also not heard of any important occasion that would require a Five Tribes meeting or an audience with the Queen.  With three choices crossed off his list, all that was left was the royal library, a favored place of both the Queen and her advisor.

With the destination decided, the visitor with the heavy bag and chilly face snuck through the bushes and delicately planted flowers, careful not to step on any fallen leaves and alert the gardeners of his presence, and slipped into the palace.  Unsurprisingly, though, he was almost immediately spotted.

“Master Jae-ha!” a lady-in-waiting announced with a gasp trailing at her words.  “When did you arrive?”  There were four other women with her quickly picked up their skirts, took the hands of the startled children, rushed over to him bearing worried expressions.

“Don’t tell me you snuck through the gardens again!”

“You need to appear in front of the guards so they won’t mistake you for an intruder!”

“I thought you wouldn’t ever return!”

“That bag looks heavy, please do not burden yourself!”

“Uncle Jae-ha!”

At the last voice, Jae-ha had to peak down at his knees, where Iseul and Kang-dae, the three year old twins of Queen Yona and King Hak, stared up at him, the former in awe and the latter in surprise.  Without bothering to answer their attendants, Jae-ha kneeled in front of the children, removing his bag from his back and placing it at his feet.

“Good to see you two again,” he said.  “You’ve both grown so much!”  It had only been about five months since he had last seen them, but they were already almost unrecognizable.  Iseul’s hair, unmanageable like her mother’s yet rivetingly onyx like her father’s, had grown much longer, to the point where it looked like a black bush was cascading down to her shoulders and around her cherubic face.  Kang-dae, meanwhile, had lost so much of his baby fat that he appeared to be at least two years older than he actually was.  But despite it all, they were definitely still the same children Jae-ha adored as though they were his own.  Iseul beamed up at him and clutched his sleeve while Kang-dae shyly hid behind her.  Definitely still the same.

“Why you here?” Iseul asked with all the proficiency of a three year old.

Jae-ha grinned and ruffled her hair.  “That’s a secret.”  Iseul pouted and he laughed.  “Where’s your mother?”

The twins immediately looked at each other, their shining, purple eyes searching for answers.  Eventually, the tilted their heads up in unison and stared at one of the ladies-in-waiting.  The attendant smiled demurely and with a hint of fatigued frustration.  “Her majesty is in the library, eating her midday meal.  Shall I lead you to her?”

Jae-ha smirked  He was right on the mark.  “No, thank you.  I know my way there.”  After pressing two quick kisses to each twin’s head (and stifling a laugh at how Kang-dae blushed), he picked up his bag and hurried through the halls.  During the first year of Yona’s reign as Queen, he had toured a different area of the palace almost every day.  It had been, after all, his home before he had decided to spend the rest of his years with the people of Awa, the first people he had ever thought of as family.  Knowing every twist and turn of one’s home was natural.  After his long year in the palace, his legs alone could take him wherever he needed to go, and so, with barely any thought given to his route, Jae-ha arrived at the palace library, a humongous place stocked to the brim with scrolls and texts that he never quite cared for.  Without bothering to knock on the titanic, ornate doors to alert Yona of his presence, Jae-ha stepped inside.  Yona sat alone at a table so long and wide, it made her appear much more diminutive than she actually was.  Her food, most of which was meat she had barely eaten half of, was pushed aside and replaced by a long scroll.  Jae-ha pulled up a chair and sat beside her.

“You should have sent a letter to let me know you planned on visiting,” Yona said before Jae-ha could even think of greeting her.

“What a cold way to say hello to a dear friend,” Jae-ha teased.  The light filtering through the many windows converged upon Yona and made her beautiful eyes, her painted lips, her opulent robes shimmer like the rarest of gemstones and the most radiant of beings.  She laughed, causing creases to rise in her face and reveal the damage years in the sun had caused and all the cuts she had ever received in battle.  The incongruence of marred skin and shining beauty made him truly believe she was perfection.

So enraptured by her, Jae-ha didn’t notice Yona leaning towards him until he was caught in her embrace.  “It’s good to see you again,” she told him, the lilt of her voice soothing and warm.  “Have you been well?”

Jae-ha hugged her quickly before removing himself from her hold.  “I’ve been fine.”

“And Gigan?” she asked.

Jae-ha held off a sigh.  “Much better.  Her sickness finally left her.”

Yona folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them.  “I’m glad to hear that.  I wish she would have allowed me to send her a doctor.”

Jae-ha chuckled lowly.  “Captain would have had both our heads if we showed her any special treatment.”

“But she might have been cured so much sooner with a palace doctor.  They surely have more access to medical texts and medicinal herbs than a doctor in Awa,” Yona mumbled.  Briefly, a shadow of guilt passed over her face, carrying with it her regret for not being able to put the entirety of her kingdom on an equal plane.  In spite of her many years of experience with the reality of inequality, Jae-ha knew Yona still wished she could make it so that all of her citizens could live peacefully and richly, never in need of simple necessities.  Perhaps that’s what made her such a wonderful ruler — she never stopped believing in wonderful ideals, to the point that they were goals rather than dreams.

“There’s no point in thinking about what could have been,” Jae-ha whispered to her.  “Captain’s still with us.  That’s all that matters.”

“But if she was healthier sooner, then you wouldn’t have missed Haeun’s birthday,” Yona immediately responded.

Jae-ha shifted awkwardly.  “You’re angry at me, aren’t you?”

Yona grinned.  “Absolutely not.  I know you wanted to be here for Haeun’s sixth birthday.  It’s Haeun who’s mad at you.”

Jae-ha rubbed his temple, preparing himself for the worst.  “How mad is she?”

“All the scary stories she tells Chul-bae involve you as the villain.”

Jae-ha winced.  “So she’s trying to turn the family against me?”

Yona laughed as Jae-ha hung his head.  “Afraid so,” she answered.  “But if you want to see her, she probably won’t object.”

“Maybe it’d be best if I avoided her for a bit…” Jae-ha muttered.

“Not a chance,” Yona said with a chuckle.  She stood up and grabbed Jae-ha’s wrist.  “Come on.  Haeun’s in a koto lesson right now.  She’ll be glad to end it early for her favorite uncle.”

Not even bothering to put up a joke fight, Jae-ha stood up and allowed himself to be led around by Yona, who walked with proud shoulders.  “She doesn’t like the koto?” he asked.

“I think she prefers the erhu,” she replied.  Jae-ha couldn’t help the pride that sparked within him.

“Maybe I should start visiting regularly to properly teach her,” he mused, more to himself than to Yona, though she turned her head to him to let him know she heard him.

“We’d all love that,” she said with a beautiful smile.  She turned back around and waved over an attendant, a buxom young women with fashionably short brown hair.  “Please call Haeun from her lesson and have her come to the garden.”  She threw a curious look to Jae-ha.

Quickly, in response to Yona’s expression, he supplied, “At the small fish pond, please.”

The attendant bowed to show her assent and then hurried off.  Yona returned to her walk, still pulling Jae-ha by the wrist.  “You really like that pond, don’t you?” she asked.

Jae-ha hummed happily.  “I practically raised most of the fishes there.  Of course I’m fond of it.”

Yona giggled.  “Just like you adore Haeun because you helped raise her?”

Memories of Haeun as a newborn flashed through his mind.  She had been born at an inconvenient time, just a few months after Yona had ascended to the throne, and the kingdom had been in calamity because of a typhoon that had threatened both the Earth and Water Tribes.  Yet in spite of the tense atmosphere, the newborn Haeun had laughed and had rarely cried.  One look at her precious face, and Jae-ha had fallen, becoming easily swayed by the simplest of her requests.  The first few months of her life had been some of the most wonderful in Jae-ha’s long life.  “Definitely,” he finally replied.

* * *

 

The palace gardens were a beauty in their own right.  Asters of various colors, grape hyacinths of various shades, lotuses with shining petals, fortune’s rhododendrons that coalesced like mobs, and the ever-mesmerizing camellias dotted the landscape alongside countless other flowers.  Seated next to the small koi pond (the garden had three koi ponds, each larger than the last), Jae-ha could pretend he was in a mystical place, a world which belonged only to the heavens.  When he heard Haeun giggling as she ran to the pond, he was sure he had been transported off the earth.

He opened his eyes to watch her arrival.  Her skirts, made of surprisingly light material, flounced around her short legs in mixing shades of purple and pink.  Her long hair, thin and rivetingly onyx like Hak’s, flowed beautifully behind her.  She was a gorgeous child, a promise of future exquisiteness in such a small body.

“Momma!” Haeun shouted.  A giant smile graced her face, her large purple eyes shining as she looked up at her destination, the small koi pond.  When she discovered that the person waiting for her was Jae-ha, not her beloved mother, her face fell almost immediately.  She slowed down to a stop and mumbled, “Uncle Jae-ha…” before erupting into a shout.  “What are you doing here!?”

Jae-ha chuckled nervously.  Yep, she was definitely furious at him.  “I came to see you.”

Haeun crossed her arms, her cheeks puffed and red.  “You missed my birthday.”

Jae-ha sighed.  “I know, I know…” he whispered.  He picked up his luggage and dropped it in front of his feet.  Digging through the bag, he eventually pulled out a box the size of his palm.  “Here.  I bought this as your present.”

Haeun stared at him, unpersuaded.

Not dissuaded, Jae-ha opened the box.  Inside was a pair of earrings, the perfect gift for a growing girl.  They were tiny and simple, in stark contrast to the grandeur of everything else in Haeun’s life, just emeralds encased in gold.  Jae-ha held the box out to Haeun, presenting his probably meager apology to the stubborn and hurt six-year-old.  “I think these would look beautiful on you.”

Much to his surprise, Haeun took a step forward.  After a bit of tense silence, she hurried over to him and took the box, her purple eyes shining again as she observed her gift.  “They’re pretty!” she exclaimed.  “Thank you, Uncle Jae-ha!”

Jae-ha sighed with heavy relief.  “You’re welcome, my dear.”  He reached out to pet her hair.  But before he could touch her, Haeun slapped his hand away with audacious speed.

“No touching!” she declared.  “You missed my birthday!”

Internally, Jae-ha was screaming.  Little girls were so confusing!  “I had someone else to tend to, my dear.”

“But what about me?!” she demanded.  Tears were beginning to bud in her eyes, much to Jae-ha’s panic.

“I would’ve been here if I could!” Jae-ha hastily replied.  “But Captain Gigan was sick.  I couldn’t leave her ailing and alone.  If your mother was sick, wouldn’t you want to be with her?”

Haeun pouted and tapped her right foot.  “Yes…” she admitted, a tinge of sadness to her voice.  “But my attendants won’t let me near Momma when she’s sick.  Don’t your attendants do the same to you?”

Jae-ha couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from him.  “I don’t have attendants in Awa, dear Haeun!”

Haeun blinked.  “Huh?  But you’re part of the family!  You should have attendants!”

“I can take care of myself!” Jae-ha answered.  Laughing, he ruffled Haeun’s hair.  Much to his joy, she didn’t slap him away.  But her face did fall even farther, her pout becoming a frown that didn’t suit her.

“Uncle Jae-ha…” she muttered, “why did you miss my birthday?” she asked again.  She took his hand from her head and held it with both of her hands.

Jae-ha exhaled slowly through his nose and brought her hands up to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles.  “Someone I love dearly was sick.  I didn’t want to leave her alone.  I’m sorry, dear Haeun.  I would’ve been here if I could.”

Her box of earrings forgotten on the ground, Haeun came to sit down beside Jae-ha, her leg pressed up against his.  “What about me?  Do you love me?”

“Of course!” he immediately answered.  “Haeun, I’ve adored you since the day you were born.  If I could be with you all the time, I would.”

Finally, Haeun’s frown turned into a grin, though tears were still in her eyes.  “Really?”

Jae-ha leaned down and peppered kisses on the top of her head.  “Really.”

“O-okay…” Haeun eventually said.  “I forgive you, Uncle Jae-ha.”

Jae-ha pulled his hand from hers and wrapped her in a hug.  “Thank you, dear Haeun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I think I'm gonna have the next chapter be the last chapter of this fic. Sorry to everyone who wants a whole lot more of this story, but I wanna work on other stuff. Anyway, thank you to everyone who's been reading so far and thank you thank you thank you for all your kind comments! Please comment/critique again for this chapter! <3


	5. Fifth and Final

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, after months of waiting, I finished the last chapter of “Five Too Many”! I’m sorry it ended up rather short -- I tried to make this chapter much longer, but it just wouldn’t happen,,,,,,,,,,,,, Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

            “Mother… Father… if it is in your power, _please stop having children_.”

            It was a joyous occasion.  The Warrior Queen Yona of Kouka, the righteous reincarnation of King Hiryuu, had given birth to a beautiful baby girl.  This was her fifth child in fifteen years, and most people had thought she had gone barren, since she was 34 years old and her last children had been born eleven years ago.  Yet the autumn equinox had blessed not only the harvest, but also the royal family.   The newborn was named Ae-sook, and the entire kingdom celebrated the news.

            But, within the castle, not everyone was thrilled.  Case in point: Haeun, first born of the Warrior Queen Yona and the Thunder King Hak.  She was fifteen years old, soon to be of age to rightly inherit the throne, and she was honestly pretty tired of _all these children_.  Granted, her other three siblings — Chul-bae at 14 years old and the twins, Iseul and Kang-dae at 11 years old — were only a few years younger than her, so none of them counted as children.  But there were also Kija’s two children (the first born four years ago, the other three years ago), Jae-ha’s own newborn (just a few months old and she was still garnering an unnecessary amount of cheering from the dragon warriors and Hak), and Tae-yeon’s _countless_ amount of babies (he had picked up Mun-deok’s bad habit of adopting every orphan kid he crossed).  So, for Haeun, who had been around for all of these births — or, in Tae-yeon’s case, adoptions — she had seen enough babies for one lifetime.  Yet, of course, her parents had had to add _another_.

            “To be fair, we thought we had,” Yona commented with a small laugh.  She sat in her bed, legs covered by heavy blankets, a sleeping Ae-sook in her arms.  Hak sat next to her, an arm draped over her shoulders as he gazed down fondly at his newborn daughter.  “But surprises happen to everyone.”

            “I don’t understand why you’re so angry, Haeun,” Chul-bae spoke up.  He sat with his older sister on a bench that one of the servants had put next to Yona’s bed.  He leaned against her, his head rested on her shoulder, a habit formed from the days when he was still too small to support himself even when sitting down.  Years of a strict diet, made by Yun, and an exercise routine, made by Hak, had helped him grow into a strong and healthy young man, with no signs of his premature birth.  Yet his many habits of his youth, when he needed Haeun for a lot of things, remained.  Not that she really minded, anyway.  “Aren’t you happy we have a new baby sister?  I’m excited!” Chul-bae exclaimed.  He chuckled and held Haeun’s hand in a brotherly manner.

            “There have been too many babies lately,” Haeun complained.

            “Should the next Queen of Kouka really be saying that?” Hak interjected, though he didn’t take his eyes away from Ae-sook.

            “I already told you, I don’t _want_ to be the Queen.  I want to be like you, Father!  I want to be a General, or at least a battle tactician!  It would be better than sitting on a throne all day,” Haeun rebutted.

            “Haeun, I do _a lot_ more than that…” Yona whispered.  Haeun decidedly ignored her.

            “If you don’t want the throne, I’ll gladly take it,” Iseul suddenly said.  On the other side of the bed sat the twins, Iseul and Kang-dae.  They were surprisingly small for their age, but they made use of their size by squeezing into a sliver of space on the bed by Hak’s leg.  Hak would surely have moved to give them more room, but the rest of the mattress was taken up by Yona and Shin-ah, who was lying over Yona’s legs and watching Ae-sook, as he had been ever since the baby had been born.

            “If you keep talking like that, people are going to start to think you’re planning a coup,” Kang-dae replied.  Much like Chul-bae, he was leaning against his sister, except in the twins’ case they were back-to-back.  He was sketching something — most likely a palace dress, which he had been obsessed with for at least a month — while Iseul was dutifully reading a medical book Yun had given her for her birthday.

            “I doubt anyone is going to follow an 11 year old,” Hak joked.  He finally looked away from his newborn so he could ruffle Iseul’s hair.  She swatted him away while Kang-dae eagerly leaned towards his father in hopes of getting his hair ruffled, as well.  Hak indulged him, much to his obvious joy.

            “What if I enlisted Uncle Yun for help?” Iseul questioned.  “He is the Queen’s advisor, after all.  Everyone respects him.”

            “Doesn’t he want to retire?” Yona asked in return.  “He’s been really tired lately…”

            “I think he just wants a vacation,” Hak answered.  “How about we take him up to the Fire Tribe in a few weeks?  I think he’d love to visit home.”

            “Ooh, great idea!” Yona exclaimed, giving Hak a quick kiss on the cheek.  “He’ll be so happy!”

            “What did I just say about children?!” Haeun demanded.  This time, everyone else ignored her.

            “How about Uncle Shin-ah, then?” Iseul prompted.  “He’s a skilled fighter and all the Generals like him.”

            All eyes turned to Shin-ah.  But he just kept staring at Ae-sook, in his own (somewhat creepy) way of caring a lot.  Either he hadn’t heard that the family was talking about him, or he was secretly ignoring them.  Haeun’s bet was on the latter option.

            “Is that a yes?” Iseul asked.

            “That’s a no,” Yona and Hak answered in unison.

            “It’s a no…” Shin-ah suddenly said as he reached out to stroke Ae-sook’s chubby cheek.

            “Why didn’t you just say that…?” Chul-bae mumbled.  There was a slight shrug from Shin-ah and that was the end of that conversation.

            Ae-sook finally stirred from her sleep, a little, high-pitched grumble escaping her to let the room know she was awake.  Almost immediately, Chul-bae jumped onto the bed, letting his body land on Shin-ah, who showed no signs of being bothered.  Iseul and Kang-dae leaned over Hak’s legs, watching their baby sister with wide, purple eyes.  Hak placed his hand over Yona’s, as if to support her while the newborn woke.  Only Haeun remained unmoved, not about to defy her pride even if for such a supposedly momentous occasion.  Ae-sook had been born just a few days ago, and had already woken up and fallen asleep a number of times, though apparently that didn’t keep everyone from getting excited by her every move.  It was silly, really.

            Finally, Ae-sook finished stirring, and opened her dark purple eyes.  Somehow, unlike her four older siblings, Ae-sook hadn’t inherited either of her parents’ iris colors—rather, she had taken on a strange mix of blue and purple.  Surely, it was going to change.  But, for the time being, even Haeun couldn’t keep herself from being transfixed by the unique hue her baby sister carried.  Of course, she still didn’t move, but she did hold her breath when Ae-sook gurgled and slowly shifted in Yona’s arms.

            “Hello, lovely,” Yona greeted in a whisper.  “Did you sleep well?”

            Shin-ah held out his arms and Yona cautiously passed her baby to him.  He cradled Ae-sook as best he could while lying on his stomach and Iseul and Kang-dae quickly bent down to kiss Ae-sook’s bald head.  Chul-bae reached over and poked Ae-sook’s cheek.  The newborn, meanwhile, yawned and stretched her miniscule arms.  Chul-bae and Hak chuckled in unison.  Shin-ah smiled serenely.

            “So all it took was 5 kids for Shin-ah to get used to babies, huh?” Hak teased.  “Took you long enough.”

            Shin-ah’s smile slipped into a small pout.  “I was… scared… but not this time…” he mumbled.  He grinned again when Ae-sook turned her head towards his voice and put a hand on his nose.  “I want… to be here… for Ae-sook.”

            At Shin-ah’s words, Yona and Hak broke out into almost identical smiles, both adoring and so, so proud.  “I’m glad to hear that, Shin-ah,” Yona said.  “You’ll be the best uncle ever.”

            “And we’ll be the best family ever!” Kang-dae exclaimed.  Iseul laughed behind her hand at his energy.

            “Won’t we, Haeun?” Chul-bae added, looking at his older sister.

            Haeun sighed, but she felt herself smile.  “Of course we will be.  We’ll be the greatest family Kouka has ever seen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it might seem like a disappointing end to this story, sooooooooooo I present to you: the headcanons that brought this entire fic into existence ( http://mcgrillzdumpinc.tumblr.com/post/115935559406/hakyona-babies-headcanon )
> 
> And in case y’all were curious about what the kids all look like when they grow up... Haeun looks like Lili, since she has long, straight black hair & blue eyes. But she has a chubbier face than Lili and has a resting bitch face (she never quite stops being so prideful lmao). Chul-bae looks like Hak, since he has the same hair color & style like his dad, except he’s skinnier & shorter than Hak, & has big eyes like Kija. He also has Hak’s eye color xD Iseul looks like Yona at the beginning of the series except with black hair. Kang-dae has Yona’s unmanageable hair, but he keeps it super short (like, Shin-ah short), so he kinda has a ‘fro — like this attractive asshole ( http://www.mens-hairstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Short-Wavy-Hairstyles-Men.jpg ) except, y’know, Asian. Ae-sook keeps her weird eye color. She has black hair, but in the sun, it looks almost red (the Hiryuu blood had to go somewhere okay). The tallest to shortest go from Kang-dae, Chul-bae, Ae-sook, Haeun, & then Iseul (who is forever mad that her twin brother ended up so much taller than her). I know I said that in this chapter that the twins were small for their ages, but they get some p nice growth spurts – even though Iseul is the shortest, she ends up at about 5’4”/162cm, while Kang-dae becomes 6’1”/185cm.
> 
> Iseul does become the next queen, by the way. Haeun becomes the tactician who helps Iseul with war plans/is the one who directs the Generals on the battlefield. She does her own fighting, but since she’s still a Princess, she usually has to let someone else protect her until it’s her turn to fight. Chul-bae is one of the ambassadors & is typically Iseul’s first choice when she needs help with political matters (Iseul is rather prideful like Haeun, so it doesn’t happen often, but Chul-bae offers his advice even if he isn’t asked & Iseul usually takes it). Kang-dae ends up in the military like Haeun. While political laws forbid royalty from becoming the General of their Tribe (to keep Tribe politics separate from Royal/State politics), most people in the Sky Tribe sooner recognize Kang-dae as their actual leader/general than the actual general lol. The reason is because Kang-dae resembles Joo-doh in fighting style & leading style, though of course he is much kinder. The soldiers who remember Joo-doh when he was the Sky Tribe General (this story assumes that Soo-won was deposed and that Joo-doh, as his right hand man, was exiled because it wouldn’t be considered appropriate to keep him around when he was at the side of a traitor for so long — though I should probably note that I love Soo-won & Joo-doh & hope that they survive the manga/get happy endings…) & even the ones who only ever heard stories about him look up to Kang-dae as a result of his resemblances to Joo-doh. Ae-sook becomes the bubbliest sibling of them all. She doesn’t like involving herself in state affairs, so she works with the Dragon Villages instead. She’s making sure the Villages are prepared in case the current generation of dragons (Kija, Shin-ah, Jae-ha, & Zeno) turns out to not be the last in the cycle. The Villages are encouraged to live near Hiryuu Castle, & have been promised long-lasting protection under the crown, so they won’t revert to the protection tactics that resulted in the abuse of so many previous generations.


End file.
